HTC First to Announce Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC

When several wireless carriers first announced plans to offer the HTC Universal, they were very reticent about exactly which version of Windows Mobile it will run.

At the time it was widely assumed that this meant it would use Windows Mobile 5.0. Microsoft hadn't officially announced this version of the operating system yet, so no one was allowed to talk about it.

With yesterday's official unveiling of Windows Mobile 5.0, though, HTC was able to confirm that this really will be the operating system for this cutting-edge cellular-wireless handheld.

Availability

Until now, all the carriers that have announced plans to offer the HTC Universal -- T-Mobile Germany, Vodaphone, and Orange -- have been located in Europe.

However, HTC has just announced that this Pocket PC will be also available in North America and Asia, although it declined to say from which carriers.

The European carriers have talked up the HTC Universal's support for UMTS, a 3G wireless networking standard widely used on that continent. Unfortunately, the U.S. wireless carriers that this model is compatible with for basic services chose to go with a rival high-speed network type, EDGE.

It is not known if an EDGE-compatible version of the HTC Universal will be available.

HTC didn't give any specifics of when this handheld will be released, aside from sometime in the second half of 2005.

It is doubtless currently undergoing the lengthy tests required by wireless service providers before they will allow a new device on their networks.

An Overview of the HTC Universal

The HTC Universal will use a clamshell design with a screen on one side and a QWERTY keyboard on the other. In addition, its "twist and flip" screen will be able to rotate and then be closed down over the keyboard, allowing the device to be used in a tablet configuration.

It will be the first Pocket PC phone with a 640 by 480 (VGA) screen.

The HTC Universal will run Windows Mobile 5.0 on a 520 MHz Intel XScale processor and have 128 MB of RAM. It will have an SD card slot for additional storage.

When closed, it will be 5.2 inches wide, 3.2 inches tall, and .85 inches thick (131.6 by 79 mm by 21.6 mm).

As previously mentioned, it will support UMTS, so it will have typical data transfer speeds between 400 Kb/s and 700 Kb/s. This is significantly slower than Wi-Fi, but much better than the fastest speeds offered by GPRS or even EDGE.

This device, in addition to its GSM/GPRS/UMTS capabilities, will have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It will reportedly be able to automatically switch between whichever Wireless Network is best at any given moment.

The HTC Universal will have two cameras, one next to the screen for video conferencing, and one on the other side for images and video. Reportedly, the internal camera will be VGA, while the external one will be 1.3 megapixel.

More information is available on the HTC web site.

Thanks to the many people who sent in tips on this.

Related Links

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